Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 941 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 18,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 941 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Assurant were worth $3,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Assurant in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Assurant by 62.1% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Assurant by 509.4% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Assurant in the third quarter worth $42,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total transaction of $627,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,321,240.44. This trade represents a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AIZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America raised their price target on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.50.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $217.83 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $11.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 0.61. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.12 and a 12 month high of $230.55. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. This is a positive change from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.82%.

Assurant Profile

Assurant, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides business services that supports, protects, and connects consumer purchases in North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through two segments: Global Lifestyle and Global Housing. The Global Lifestyle segment offers mobile device solutions, and extended service contracts and related services for consumer electronics and appliances, and credit and other insurance products; and vehicle protection, commercial equipment, and other related services.